Smart-Assery as a Sign of Intelligence

I heard loud giggling and snorting coming from the bedroom. John was sitting on the bed with Hana, ostensibly working on finishing his ten minute English assignment. He covered up the page and told me not to look yet, he wasn't finished, then asked his sister what a Venn diagram was.

My reason for making him do this workbook was to expose him to some typical "read, then respond, based on the text above" type of work most schools (and standardized tests) use regularly. I wanted him to be familiar with the language and able to competently navigate these forms should he ever "join the system" again and need these skills. Simultaneously, by consulting the given texts and regurgitating answers based on those texts, he would get practice writing in standard English. What you see, however, is evidence that so much more is going on in that kid's mind! 

Rather than finish as quickly as possible, this page took him half an hour due to all the extra writing. Hey, I'll celebrate whatever gets him to write more! As you can read, he stays in lockstep with the program through answer #2, but on #3 he lets his inner smart-ass come through loudly! If you read the penciled words out loud you'll hear there is a very strong "voice" coming through. 

3. What animals are omnivores? What are some animals that are omnivores?
   "Omnivores are animals that eat Plants vs I mean plants and meat such as, a zomby, oops um hehe cross that off will you. Let's see,  Google serch, AH here we go, Pigs and Humans. Finaly done." 

Credit is due for complex sentence structure, multiple tangents consciously resolved, weaving in references to popular culture (the "Plants versus Zombies" game and doing a "Google search"), and finally answering the question. Anyone familiar with Calvin, from the cartoon Calvin & Hobbes may recognize the inner muttering of one who wants to do the right thing but is under the influence of a wandering mind and fantastical imagination.

By #6 he is engaged in lively dialogue with the textbook author. 

6. Do you think Kotetsu likes jumping?

   "How do you expect me to know! What, you think I can read minds or something."

(You might argue that both sentences should end with question marks, but I'll invite you to read them as they are and you'll discover the precise tones of sarcasm perfectly coded.)

At the bottom, in the middle of the Venn diagram, what may seem like a gross or silly comment is actually a reference to an article we discussed several weeks ago about an emerging food trend in NYC involving roasting an animal we think of as a house pet. 

I'm glad I can read deeply for meaning and understand that this child's smart-assery is actually a sign of intelligence––intelligence that refuses to just regurgitate answers from the text above. I'm glad Hana explained what a Venn diagram is, so he might remember it this time (special circumstances having her home). And, I'm glad I'm not a classroom teacher who has to grade this paper.